Friday, August 26, 2011

Anand Ramlogan The Transformer


I am without a doubt convinced that Attorney General Anand Ramlogan is a transformer, our own local version of 'Bumble Bee'. As the current Attorney General Anand Ramlogan is in his glee, using non-bailable law such as the Anti Gang Act to detain alleged criminals. But this was the same Anand Ramlogan who wrote a long diatribe against the anti kidnapping bill and it's consequences re: it being a non bailable offence. Now Anand is singing a totally different tune. But you see unlike most Trinidadians my memory eh short! I WILL HIT YOU FOR SIX RAMLOGAN. SEE THE FOLLOWING TRINIDAD GUARDIAN ARTICLE WRITTEN BY NONE OTHER, THE INCUMBENT ATTORNEY GENERAL ANAND RAMLOGAN ON THE 1ST AUGUST 2004!



"Manning’s knee-jerk crime plan" - by ANAND RAMLOGAN (Before being appointed Attorney General and suffering from a delusional swelling of the male part!)


PM Manning unveiled his great crime plan last week. It was greeted with a series of brutal murders and demands for “less talk, more action.” The headline grabber was the “no bail for kidnappers” strategy.


This knee-jerk legislative reaction to what is admittedly a frightening problem is one that must be cautiously studied. The erosion of human rights and the enlargement of State power (that can later be misused and abused) normally take place in the height of a crisis, with the full support of the people, because rational thought is overwhelmed by panic and fear. (In 2004 who would have thought that Anand in one of his editorials to the Guardian was simply describing the state in which he would have the country when he is appointed Attorney General. These words adequately describes the People's Partnership Government's state of emergency)


At present, kidnapping is a criminal offence punishable by life imprisonment. Though it is a bailable offence, magistrates have the power to refuse bail under the Bail Act, because of the seriousness of the offence and its prevalence in society.


Carlos Manickchand and his gang were, for example, refused bail, as have many others who have been charged for kidnapping. Persons charged for car theft and drug offences have routinely been refused bail by magistrates.


A magistrate can set a high bail that is beyond the reach of the accused person, and he would not be out the following morning. We see this happening every day in our courts, so why all the fuss now? (Why all the fuss indeed Anand? Why did your government call a state of emergency to detain criminals when you knew before you even became Attorney General that a magistrate can set a high bail if need be?)


If persons charged with kidnapping offences are being released on bail too frequently, then perhaps our magistrates are setting bail too low, and the Chief Justice needs to issue some guidelines. (I GUESS THE SAME CAN BE SAID FOR ANY CRIMINAL OFFENCE WHICH OUR MAGISTRATES MAY HAVE BEEN SETTING BAIL TOO LOW FOR)


Surely, the seriousness and prevalence of the offence must weigh heavily in the magistrate's mind and tilt the scales towards imposition of onerous bail conditions in appropriate cases.


A non-bailable offence means that once arrested and charged, you will remain behind bars until your trial, regardless of the paucity or strength of the evidence against you. It’s almost as if you're presumed guilty, rather than innocent. In effect, politicians could use it to remove and incarcerate political opponents from society; police officers could use it to get rid of a troublesome boyfriend or husband to access a “slack” wife or girlfriend. (YET STILL HE IS TRYING TO CONVINCE US THAT UNDER A StATE OF EMERGENCY THE POLICE AND ARMY WILL NOT ABUSE THEIR AUTHORITY, AND TO ADD TO THAT HE IS DOING EXACTLY WHAT HE CLAIMED COULD BE DONE, HE IS PRESUMING THE GUILT OF ALL THOSE THUS DETAINED UNDER THIS FARCICAL STATE OF EMERGENCY!)


There are very few non-bailable offences in our law. These are: murder, treason, piracy or hijacking, and any offence for which the penalty is death. A non-bailable offence means that once arrested and charged, you will remain behind bars until your trial, regardless of the paucity or strength of the evidence against you.


It could easily be misused and abused, because the judiciary would have no power to grant bail, and the ultimate power to deprive a citizen of his liberty is given to the police, who can charge on the flimsiest basis.

It places the liberty of citizens in the hands of the police, because once someone is charged for a non-bailable offence, he/she would be amputated from society and incarcerated like a convicted criminal.


Pressing the right buttons, a drug dealer could easily manipulate the police service to get rid of competitors, so that he could control their turf.


If every time a particular crime increases we allow our politicians to fool us with the knee-jerk reaction of new legislation to make the offence non-bailable, then car theft, robbery with violence and drug offences should all be non-bailable.(ANAND RAMLOGAN, YOU MEAN LIKE HOW YOU AND AUNTY KAMLA MADE THE VERY SAME CAR THEFT, ROBBERY WITH VIOLENCE AND DRUG TRAFFICKING NON-BAILABLE OFFENCES AS PER THE FIRST SCHEDULE OF THE ANTI GANG ACT WHICH YOUR GOVERNMENT IS TAKING CREDIT FOR HAVING LAID IN PARLIAMENT? YOU MEAN LIKE HOW YOU AND KAMLA TRYING TO FOOL US WITH THIS KNEE-JERK STATE OF ABUSE OF OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS? OH SHUCKS....AH MEAN STATE OF EMERGENCY?)

If every time a particular crime increases we allow our politicians to fool us with the knee-jerk reaction of new legislation to make the offence non-bailable, then car theft, robbery with violence and drug offences should all be non-bailable.


The trauma inflicted on a victim, whose home is robbed while his/her children are tied and beaten to near death, is not any less than that of a parent whose child is kidnapped. It's no use making qualitative distinctions in the effects of serious crimes.


It is a serious thing for the State to deny an accused bail in circumstances where the backlog of criminal cases in the magistrates’ court system means that an innocent man could be jailed for several years before he is even given an opportunity to prove his innocence. (YET STILL YOU AND GIBBS BOASTING OF HOW MANY PEOPLE YOU HAVE DETAINED UNDER THIS FARCICAL STATE OF STUPIDITY ....OH SHUCKS AH MEAN STATE OF EMERGENCY. ARE THESE ALLEGED CRIMINALS GOING TO BE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVE THEIR INNOCENCE MR. TRANSFORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL?)


By the time he wins his case, his whole life is ruined. The main weapon in the fight against crime is an efficient and expeditious system of criminal justice. (NOTICE IN 2004 ANAND RAMLOGAN WAS NOT ESPOUSING NOR WAS HE PROMOTING ANY STATE OF EMERGENCY!)


Part of what motivates kidnappers on bail to commit more crimes is the long delay in trying and convicting them. We are all falling into a trap cleverly set by a clueless PNM. (SEEMS THE ONLY TRAP WE FELL FOR IS VOTING FOR A DECEITFUL LYING GOVERNMENT)


The problem is not the lack of laws, but rather the lack of penetrating policing and enforcement of the existing laws.

“No bail for kidnappers” will deflect the nation's attention from the incompetence of the Government, the impotence of the police, as the spotlight once again shifts to Panday. If he refuses to support this amendment, the nation would be so busy “ponging” and “cussin'” him, that no one will have time to focus on the real issue of the Government's inability to deal with crime. (I WONDER WHOSE INCOMPETENCE ANAND RAMLOGAN IS CURRENTLY DEFLECTING? OH GOSH THEY CUSS PANDAY, YOU MEAN LIKE HOW YOU CUSSING ROWLEY FOR CRITICIZING YOUR ILLEGAL STATE OF EMERGENCY? EH ANDAND?)


The mad rush to make new laws every time we have a problem is a reflection of the idle and bankrupt intellectual state of the PNM. The unthinking rush to embrace and welcome this “no bail policy” for kidnapping might be a reflection of our desperation and helplessness.

There's no point in making new laws when the present ones aren't properly utilised. (NOR IS THERE ANY POINT IN CALLING A STATE OF EMERGENCY WHEN LAWS SUCH AS THE ANTI GANG ACT, FIRE ARMS ACT AND THE FINANCIAL ACT AREN'T BEING PROPERLY UTILISED)


http://legacy.guardian.co.tt/archives/2004-08-01/ramlogan.html

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

State of Emergency An Abuse of The Constitution


I do not support a state of emergency and the suspension of my democratic and constitutional rights just so the police can do routine police raids. This state of emergency by the People's Partnership Government is ill advised and an abuse of our constitution. The state of emergency has yielded nothing to suggest it is worthwhile, arresting a few hundred persons and seizing a few grams of weed and cocaine does not justify the suspension of our constitution. Denying citizens of their constitutional and democratic rights is a serious issue and is not something that should be done flippantly. I heard the Attorney General justify the state of emergency because of the expected rise in violence that would have occurred because of a $22 million TT drug bust. My response to that is so what? In 2007 the US Justice Department made a drug bust of $45 million US dollars, TT $289 million and to date there has been no declaration of a state of emergency in the United States of America, a country which has more guns than T&T in any given state due to their constitution granting their citizens the right to bare arms!

Mr. Martin Daly made a very valid point on TV6 news on Tuesday night, one does not call a state of emergency to seize six guns, a few grams of illegal drugs and a hundred or so people. Even if I am to be generous and give them credit for finding to date just under ten fire arms with some ammunition and the few grams of drugs (no major drug or arms bust as of day three, no big drug financier arrested), is it that the hundred or so persons arrested are all going to be charged collectively for these few guns, ammunition and drugs? I ask because the government is beating their chest in triumph and claiming success in arresting/detaining these people, but has any of the legal luminaries in this country asked what crime these people have committed? Is it that once you have been held by the police under a farcical state of emergency you are automatically guilty? Have any of these men been taken before a court of law, successfully and judicial tried and convicted for a crime that will see them be locked away for a very long time? And if they have not been charged and tried by a court of law why is the government claiming victory? Is the government preempting the conviction of these men who have been detained? Is that legal and constitutional? Does anyone not find it strange that under a state of emergency where the government has the authority to go after any and every criminal that it is only men being loaded into the police vehicles? Are we a nation where it is only the male homo sapien that commits crime? If that is the case then our country is certainly replete with research material for any discerning anthropologist.

What is even more worrying is the fact that there was no need for a state of emergency when our Parliament inclusive of both Government and Opposition members passed in Parliament the Anti Gang Legislation which gives the police the authority to adequately address the crime situation in T&T without calling a state of emergency and depriving law abiding citizens of their constitutional rights. Some of the police's authority under the act include but are not limited too :-

* The authority to arrest without a warrant any person he has reasonable cause to believe is a gang member or has reasonable cause to believe has committed an offence under this Act.
* The authority to enter with a warrant issued by a magistrate any dwelling house if he has reasonable cause to believe a gang member will be found in that dwelling house.
* The authority to enter "without" a warrant any place or premises not used as a dwelling house and search the same if he has reasonable cause a gang member will be found in such place or premises
* Notwithstanding any law to the contrary a police officer may detain without a warrant for a period not exceeding 24 hours any person who he reasonably suspects having committed an offense under this Act
* If a senior officer has reason to believe that detention of a person without charge is necessary to preserve evidence relating to an offence or to obtain such evidence by questioning the detained person the senior officer may apply to a magistrate for a detention order not exceeding 144 hours (6 days).

The sad part about this entire fiasco is the Opposition the main body responsible for keeping the government in check seemed to have been asleep on the job. However I was heartened to see Dr. Rowley finally espouse what I have been saying in my personal capacity for the past few days, that this state of emergency was not needed, is excessive and just simply does not make sense when we have the necessary legislation in place for the police to deal with the criminal element. True to form the Honourable Prime Minister has immediately criticized Dr. Rowley's claims saying the Anti Gang Legislation could not have been used by the government to carry out the current exercises under the state of emergency as the act is specifically geared towards 'gangs' and gang members. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is simply a case of the Prime Minister not only being pedantic with legal jargon but also insulting the intelligence of the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. According to Cambridge's Online dictionary one of the definitions for a gang is "a group of criminals who work together". It's definition for a gangster is "a member of an organized group of criminals". What part of these definitions do not apply to the criminals operating in the various hot spots in T&T? They work together and consort with each other, they have a sophisticated communication network that includes BBming and texting, and they are well organized in the execution of their illicit activities. It therefore stands to reason that the Anti Gang Act was fully capable of being utilized to carry out the current operations of the security forces, more importantly the police service and not the army!

In addition the Anti Gang Act further states "For the purpose of this Act, it shall not be necessary to show that a particular gang, possesses, acknowledges or is known by a particular name, insignia, flag, means of recognition, secret signal or code, creed, belief, structure, leadership or command structure, method of operation or criminal enterprise, concentration or speciality, membership, age or other qualification, initiation rites, geographical or territorial situs, boundary or location, or other unifying mark, manner, protocol or method of expressing or indicating its membership when the gang's existence can be demonstrated by a preponderance of other admissible evidence, but any evidence reasonably tending to show or demonstrate the existence of or membership in a gang shall be admissable in any action or proceedings brought under this ACT!" In the Act a gang member is stated as "a person who belongs to a gang, or a person who knowingly acts in capacity of an agent for an accessory to, or voluntarily associates himself with any gang-related activity.....". The act further states that "gang-related activity means any criminal activity, enterprise, pursuit, or undertaking in relation to any of the offences listed in the First Schedule acquiesced in, or consented or agreed to, or directed, ordered, authorized, requested or ratified.

What all of this means is all the state has to do is prove one has committed an offence or engages in "gang-related activity" as is listed in the First Schedule of the Anti Gang Act and you can be convicted under this legislation as a gang member once you commit a gang related offence''! Some of the gang-related activity in the First Schedule are but not limited to :-

* Possession of imitation firearms in pursuance of any criminal offence
* Larceny of a motor vehicle
* Arson
* Receiving stolen goods
* Possession of bullet-proof vest, firearm or ammunition for benefit of gang
* Demanding money with menaces
* Murder
* Shooting or wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm, unlawful wounding
* Robbery, robbery with aggravation, robbery with violence
* Assault occasioning actual bodily harm
* Possession and use of a firearm or ammunition with intent to endanger life
* Possession of firearm or ammunition without licence certificate or permit
* Trafficking a dangerous drug or being in possession of a dangerous drug for the purpose of trafficking
* Rape & grievous sexual assault
* Kidnapping & Kidnapping for ransom

With the above in mind I cannot fathom nor understand how our Prime Minister, our head of government, can publicly state that the Anti Gang Act could not have been used to deal with escalating crime situation which would have seen the police carrying out the very duties they are currently carrying out while our constitution and our democratic rights remained intact. I am very concerned by the fact that we had valid Parliamentary legislation in place to be used by the security services in the full operation of our constitution and rather than use this available legislation and the resources available to it to mobilize the police service in executing their duties, the government instead chooses to adopt what is known internationally as one of the most drastic acts a government can ever perpetuate against it's own citizens, a state of emergency. What is even more worrying is that our Head of State the President does not seem to have the necessary legal advisory team in place to review present legislation etc, which ought to be utilized to deal with a situation before calling a state of emergency.

Why is the government so hell bent on justifying this state of emergency when the results of it thus far shows that it is clearly not worthwhile as these so called 'successes' could have been achieved with a normal police raid under the Anti Gang Act? Why is it that the government seem to be engaging in a campaign of misinformation regarding the legislation and laws that were available to it as well as the capacity of said legislation to deal with the crime problem without interfering and suspending our country's constitution? No government should be allowed to flippantly call a state of emergency when all evidence suggests that they had absolutely no need too. This is a very dangerous precedent that the government has set and I'm very disappointed that the various legal luminaries and the opposition of this country all seem to have been caught with their pants down and the consequence of that lethargy of our respective political and legal vanguards may very well see the creation of a runaway government drunk on power.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Are T&T's Police Really Paid Well?


With a crime rate per capita higher than that of the United States, can it truly be said that Police Officers in Trinidad and Tobago are well paid? The Express has quoted Minister of National Security as saying that per month a married constable will receive $9,516 per month, a married sergeant $11,460 and a married inspector $12,324. In light of the high risks involved regarding the job of a police officer, especially with regard to the high crime rate of our country can one truly say our officers are paid well? Mr. Sandy was on TV6 morning show saying that one cannot put a price to police work or on an officer's life. He said that even if each officer was paid $100,000 it still does not equate to the value of their life. What I want to know is if that is the case does that justify our police officers being severely under paid?

How do our police officers pay look in comparison to the pay of officers in other countries where the crime rate per capita is not as high as ours? Well in the UK police officers salary are as follows : -

Constables
On commencing service - £23,259, TT annual equivalent $251,025, Monthly TT Equivalent $20,918!!!

Constables at Pay Point 5
£31,032, TT annual equivalent $334,916, TT monthly Equivalent $27,909

Constables at Pay Point 10
£36,519, TT annual equivalent $394,135, TT monthly Equivalent $32,844

Sargeant's Pay 1yr in Position
£37,767, TT annual equivalent $407,604, TT monthly equivalent $33,967

Sargeant's at Pay Point 4
£41,040, TT annual equivalent $442,928, TT monthly equivalent $36,910

Inspector Pay Point 1
£48,108 with a raise bracket to £50,163, TT annual equivalent $519,210, TT monthly equivalent $43,267

Inspector Pay Point 3
£50,751 with a raise bracket to £52,818, TT annual equivalent $547,735, TT monthly equivalent $45,644

In the United States the average base pay for a New York State Trooper is USD $5,938 per month, which is TT $38,219 per month. However with over time a 2009 US Bureau Consensus found that with overtime officers took home on average USD $96,890 per annum which works out to be USD $8000 per month and a TT equivalent of $51,492 per month. As of 2010 the aveage salary for all ranks was USD $112,537 per annum, TT $724,276 per annum which works out to be TT $60,356 per month. Front line troopers took home in 2010 on average USD $101,574, TT $653,720 per annum which works out to be TT $54,476 per month. As a group Supreme Court Judges and New York City Judges are the only public servants who made more money than New York Police Officers with an average of USD $14,000 per annum. The interesting thing to note however is New York City Police Officers are the 'second highest paid' officers in the United States as Police Officers in New Jersey are actually paid more than New York Officers. Dennis Hallion an Executive of the National Troopers Council when asked to comment on the USD 112,000 salary for officers said "not enough".

So with these figures in mind, I can't see how Mr. Sandy can boast about a local married constable being paid $9,516 to leave his family every day and put his life at risk for another man's family and expect that police officer to be motivated and enthusiastic about his job but let's be real the majority of police officers are constables, and even when one considers the salaries of our senior officers it can be clearly shown from the figures that constables in the UK and US are working for twice the salary than our local senior officers. I agree asking for a ridiculous increase for officers such as a 50% increase may not be feasible, but certainly a 5% increase by government is totally out of order.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

United States Employees Striking despite Economic situation


The Central Bank Governor has said that T&T's economy is fragile and a national strike will harm our economy. Trade Unionist have responded to Mr. William's claims asking 'When is the right time to strike'. The local media has flooded us with images and stories of the USA's debt, the crash of their stock market etc. Yet still on Monday 45,000 Verizon workers walked off the job in protests over labour negotiations with the telecommunications giant.

My question is if United States workers could still strike despite the state of their economy, then why can't citizens of Trinidad and Tobago strike for a just wage? Our economy is better than the USA and we have local companies like Republic Bank churning out profits like $806 million and growing their asset base to $46.2 billion dollars, OneMedia Caribbean made $44.5 million and Ansa McAl made $954 million. Make no mistake, economic troubles or not I assure you that the shareholders of the aforementioned companies will receive their millions in dividends, the managers will receive their thousands in bonuses, so why can't workers who are responsible for the profits seek a just wage? It is indeed a travesty and a criminal act to pay out dividends to shareholders and bonuses to management while denying employees a just wage.

WHAT THE EXPRESS, GUARDIAN, AND NEWSDAY DON'T WANT YOU TO SEE >>>>>>>> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44048667/ns/business/

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Sunday, August 7, 2011

Tone it down Mrs. Mahabir-Wyatt


One need not try too hard to guess what class of society Mrs. Diana Mahabir-Wyatt belongs to with her latest letter to the Express Editor entitled “Industrial Relation Act Gives Government Power to Act”. In her letter she outlined briefly how the Industrial Relations Act was established and the fact that the Industrial Court was established under said Act to deal with current issues such as the current impasse between the Government and Trade Unions. She lamented the fact that both Government and Trade Unions are refusing to refer their matters to the Industrial Court and questioned whether they wanted a reasoned and sober solution. I find it very disingenuous on Ms. Mahabir-Wyatt’s part to give mention to the Industrial Court without mentioning the fact that said court is underfunded and short staffed hence any matter that is referred to that court takes years to resolve. Whether her failure to disclose such blatant and well know facts was deliberate or due to ignorance is not certain, and while I cannot speak for employers such factors do weigh heavily on the minds of Trade Unionists who are seeking a speedy resolution in the interests of members that does not constitute blindly accepting 5% or whatever unreasonable offer is made by the employer.

Mrs. Mahabir-Wyatt then paid particular attention to Section 69 of the Industrial Relations Act which prohibits members of the Public Service, the Teaching Service, the Prison Service, the Fire Service and the Central Bank from going on strike. The Act further states the holder of an office in a trade union who calls for or causes industrial action to be taken or who induces or persuades any other person to take such action is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $10,000 and to imprisonment for 18 months." In Mrs. Mahabir-Wyatt’s estimation “industrial action” is an illegal strike which attempting to “shut down the country” would qualify as, and she lamented the fact that the government is ignoring the law and in her estimation, stated in closing that “we like it so”.

Quite frankly anyone who understands basic human psychology will know that the government of the day, whomever they may be, will do well to not only ignore that draconian law but to delete it from our law books altogether. I was highly amused by Mrs. Mahabir-Wyatt’s letter and found it novice to say the least, but worst yet I found it to be dangerous and void of deep contemplation as to the social consequences that could occur should the government take such a high handed approach. I was totally surprised that Mrs. Mahabir-Wyatt thinks that public servants striking despite a law preventing them from doing so is some kind of novelty and something unique to Trinidad and Tobago. On the contrary whether the right is given or not public servants, federal employees or civil servants as they are called in different parts of the world exercise the right to strike without compunction in countries such as Australia, United States, Canada, England, India and France.

As a matter of fact in the England from where our Westminster System came, public servants are not denied the right to strike unless their duties are necessary for the safety and security of the public. Civil servants in France are granted the right to strike under the French Constitution and in Canada at least five provinces grants public workers the right to strike, the others allow strike action even though it is not legal, while all prevent them from striking if they belong to the protective services. Even at a Federal level Canadian federal workers are allowed to strike within statutory limits as per the Federal Public Service Staff Relations Act of 1967. Despite having a long history of anti-strike laws, in the US today there are no less than 38 states which prevent public sector workers from striking and 12 states have actually legalized public sector striking. In his 1998 report “Behavioural Determinants of Public Sector Illegal Strikes”, Robert Hebdon surmised that due to the many laws that attempt to prevent workers from striking, in systems like the US and Canada the “illegal strike” is an inevitable element of these industrial systems.

S.T. Cooke summoned it up more precisely when he stated “Taking away the right to strike is a bit like eliminating the vapour safety valve on a boiler. Employees need to know that they have this means of relieving their frustrations and internal tension even if they never use it. Otherwise an explosion is inevitable”. The consequences of a government’s high handed approach can be seen in the manner in which the Reagan Government dealt with the striking Air Traffic Controllers back in 1981. Federal law required federal employees at that time to take an oath not to strike and made strike action illegal. Needless to say talks between the Professional Air Traffic Controllers and the Federal Aviation Administration broke down and the workers went on strike. The US District Court ruled the strike action illegal and a contempt of court and President Reagan ordered the firing of all air traffic controllers who did not return to work within forty eight hours of his order.

Despite the legal sanctions and threat of job loss only 800 employees returned to work within the President’s 48 hour deadline. Dismissal letters were issued to the non-compliant employees, however it must be noted that despite the Reagan Government’s firm stand, the entire action against the controllers proved to be totally ineffective. The sanctions totally disrupted air traffic services and the government precluded any form of settlement with the majority of the traffic controllers which ultimately aggravated the very situation they sought to remedy and prevent. After all was said and done it was the public and the economy that suffered the most from the firing of the air traffic controllers. Hence the reason I stated earlier that Mrs. Mahabir-Wyatt’s stance that the government implements the law seems novice to say the least and not well thought out.

I would also like to inform Mrs. Mahabir-Wyatt that the Industrial Act notwithstanding the fact that it is our national law, does in fact run counter to International Labour Conventions. The International Labour Organisation has repeatedly admonished and advised successive T&T Government’s that their term ‘essential services’ in the Industrial Act is excessively broad in comparison to International Labour Standards and it is successive T&T Governments, who are the agents of citizens of Trinidad and Tobago and who are supposed to be acting in our best interest, they are the ones who have repeatedly refused to amend the Industrial Act as advised by the ILO. The ILO has also repeatedly made calls for the Government of T&T to change the Collective Bargaining Laws of the Act which state that collective agreements must be for a maximum of five years and a minimum of three years making it almost impossible for workers on short term contracts to be covered by such agreements.

Mrs. Mahabir-Wyatt, now you understand why our government obstinately refuses to comply with International Labour Standards, it also explains their fondness for hiring people on contract! Our government the body which is supposed to be seeking our interest has been deliberately denying entire sectors of our economy, their legitimate rights by refusing to comply with International Labour Standards. As it stands the Industrial Relations Act of T&T is a flawed piece of legislation that runs counter to International Laws and Standards. As a matter of fact just as recent as April of this year the ILO Committee of Experts condemned the UK Government for preventing and denying prison officers the right to strike. The ILO has indicated that the UK Government either gives prison officers the right to strike or have adequate compensatory mechanisms in place to compensate prison officers for denying them the right to strike. Is Mrs. Mahabir-Wyatt aware of any such compensatory mechanisms in place for our security services here in T&T?

And last but not least, though she tried to make a joke of it, Mrs. Mahabir-Wyatt’s suggestion that the government acts with regard imprisoning for 18 months any one holding a trade union office and who instructs public servants to strike, had to be the least thought out aspect of her letter. Why would anyone advocate the jailing of any trade unionist at a volatile and heated industrial time like this is beyond me. I guess if nothing else we can all breathe a sigh of relief that Mrs. Mahabir-Wyatt is not the first female Prime Minister of this country because I dare say, the very state of emergency which the government claims to be dodging would have certainly been upon us by now. I’m keeping my fingers cross that Mrs. Persad-Biessessar would demonstrate a more levelled and reasoned head and contemplate deeply on her actions with regard this current labour impasse than her counterpart Mrs. Mahabir-Wyatt. As a former executive director for the Caribbean Centre for Human Rights I must say I'm surprised by the sentiments expressed by Mrs. Mahabir-Wyatt.

Finger Licking Good!!!!

Finger Licking Good!!!!
A moment every Trini could relate to :-)